Port of Spain, Trinidad
Port of Spain, located on Trinidad’s northwest coast, is the capital city of Trinidad and Tobago.
Trinidad was founded by Christopher Columbus during his 1498 voyage of discovery.
The Island remained under Spanish rule until 1797 when, along with neighbour island Tobago, both became a two island colony until independence was granted in 1962.
Trinidad is the southernmost Island in the Caribbean and is situated 12km from the coast of Venezuela.
English is the official language but ‘patois’ is commonly heard - a slang version of French which is quite commonly used on many of the islands.
Trinidad/Tobago is one of the wealthiest and most developed nations in the Caribbean, and is also listed in the top 50 in the world when GDP per capita is measured. It is the second richest country in the Caribbean with its economy strongly influenced by the petroleum industry. Manufacturing is also a strong component of the local economy, there is a thriving port, citrus and cocoa are also important commodities and there is a thriving, and growing, tourist sector.
Our 8km walk began early, under partly cloudy skies, high humidity and temperatures which would quickly rise to the high 20s C.
Undaunted, we were off to the old town at around 8:30am. Not much traffic, not many people and easy going along the sidewalks - not too many pot holes and missing flag stones, to avoid.
We quickly passed through the financial district, with its fancy new buildings and spied the Federal Building with its interesting wall sculptures celebrating 50 years of independence and the country’s participation in the Olympic Games.
We continued on and soon reached the old town with its neon signs, loud music, novelty shops and the like. Interesting to see, and good for people watching, but otherwise we were not too distracted.
After a few short hours we were heading back to the ship for a well earned freshen-up and a well deserved ice cold drink.
Cheers all, and here’s hoping you all have an equally good start to your day.
Trinidad was founded by Christopher Columbus during his 1498 voyage of discovery.
The Island remained under Spanish rule until 1797 when, along with neighbour island Tobago, both became a two island colony until independence was granted in 1962.
Trinidad is the southernmost Island in the Caribbean and is situated 12km from the coast of Venezuela.
English is the official language but ‘patois’ is commonly heard - a slang version of French which is quite commonly used on many of the islands.
Trinidad/Tobago is one of the wealthiest and most developed nations in the Caribbean, and is also listed in the top 50 in the world when GDP per capita is measured. It is the second richest country in the Caribbean with its economy strongly influenced by the petroleum industry. Manufacturing is also a strong component of the local economy, there is a thriving port, citrus and cocoa are also important commodities and there is a thriving, and growing, tourist sector.
Our 8km walk began early, under partly cloudy skies, high humidity and temperatures which would quickly rise to the high 20s C.
Undaunted, we were off to the old town at around 8:30am. Not much traffic, not many people and easy going along the sidewalks - not too many pot holes and missing flag stones, to avoid.
We quickly passed through the financial district, with its fancy new buildings and spied the Federal Building with its interesting wall sculptures celebrating 50 years of independence and the country’s participation in the Olympic Games.
We continued on and soon reached the old town with its neon signs, loud music, novelty shops and the like. Interesting to see, and good for people watching, but otherwise we were not too distracted.
After a few short hours we were heading back to the ship for a well earned freshen-up and a well deserved ice cold drink.
Cheers all, and here’s hoping you all have an equally good start to your day.
Off shore oil production.
Background - shoreline of Venezuela.
Port of Spain from on board ship.
Wall presentation celebrating 50 years of independence up to 2012.
Parliament Building.
Commemorative sculpture for Olympic Games participation.
Financial district building
The ministry of finance building is the most ‘spiffy’
of all of the buildings in the newer financial district.
The more fancy/modern buildings are located in the financial district.
Main church in old part of town.
Note steel structure on gable wall to prevent collapse.
Typical street scenes in old town Port of Spain
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